Biological samples are collected and stored in many different types of facilities, for a great variety of applications. Such applications include the storage of samples collected during clinical trials in pharmaceutical companies, research samples used in university laboratories, samples archived in hospitals, samples used in the discovery of biological markers for diagnostic testing, forensic samples from crime or disaster scenes and so on. Cord blood and stem cell samples are one example of a biological sample required to be stored in the very low temperatures provided by liquid nitrogen. In order to ensure sample integrity, both samples are required to be typically maintained at temperatures of less than minus 150° C.
Typically, in each of the systems for storing biological samples, each of a large number of samples is stored in its own small plastic bag, tube or other container. Tracking of the samples is done by reading hand written labels or barcodes on the containers. A number of difficulties arise with this approach, including poor writing surfaces, little room for extensive information, ice impaired reading by humans or optical scanners, difficulty in locating a particular sample amongst the many thousands of samples maintained in a cryogenic tank to name but a few.
An inherent operating condition within a cryogenic tank is the thick fog created by the liquid nitrogen. This fog makes it difficult to identify racks that stand in the tank when attempting to identify a desired biological sample. It is current practice at cryopreservation facilities to remove racks containing biological samples from a cryogenic tank in order to visually identify a desired biological sample. In this case, not only is the sample which is desired to be identified exposed to the ambient environment, but so are other biological samples contained in that same rack.
It would be desirable to provide a system for storing and monitoring samples which enables improved operating practices to be followed from those described above. It would also be desirable to provide a system for storing and monitoring samples which ameliorates and/or overcomes one or more problems or inconveniences of the prior art.
The above discussion of background art is included to explain the context of the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any of the documents or other material referred to was published, known or part of the common general knowledge at the priority date of any one of the claims of this specification.